Discovery of a binary star orbited by three planets

Discovery by a team of researchers, including Prof. Tsevi Mazeh from the School of Physics and Astronomy

Astronomers have discovered a third planet in the Kepler-47 system, turning the system’s to be one of the most interesting known binary stars.

Using data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, a team of researchers, including Prof. Tsevi Mazeh from TAU, detected a new Neptune-to-Saturn-size planet orbiting between two previously known planets. The system is now known to include two suns in a very close orbit, circled by three planets. This is the only known double star with more than one circumbinary planet known.